The Accident
by AshleyK16439
Summary: AU. Morgan, Reid, JJ, and Emily are changed into kids when they set off a booby-trap while raiding an evil scientist's house. Hotch takes care of them as another team tries to find the scientist. Will the other team be able to find the scientist and change the team back, or are they stuck as children, having to grow up all over again? Lots of Daddy!Hotch. Haley and Jack don't exist
1. Chapter 1

The team arrived at the unsub' s house. He was a scientist named Cory Brian. He had experimented with humans before killing them and dumping their bodies. They jumped out of the SUVs and Hotch and Rossi ran to the barn as the rest of the team checked out the house. Rossi checked the ground floor of the barn while Hotch looked around up in the loft.

"All clear down hear Aaron!" Rossi yelled up to his friend.

"Clear up here too," Hotch called back.

"HOTCH!" Morgan screamed.

Hotch's blood ran cold as he jumped off the ladder and sprinted to the house, with Rossi right on his heels. When he burst into the living room, he stopped in his tracks at the sight he saw.

There he saw his team as children.

"W-wh-what happened?!" Hotch stuttered.

Morgan, who Hotch guessed was around six, answered. "Well, we kicked in the door and a bunch of gas sprayed us. We stumbled into the living room and the next thing I know, we are kids. Sorry we weren't able to clear the house."

"Rossi, clear the house," Hotch ordered. Rossi quickly scurried away. Reid, who was about three, tried to walk but was tripping over his clothes and bullet proof vest. Hotch went over and pulled the vest and pants off the toddler so he was standing in just his shirt, which was dragging on the ground. He did the same for Emily, who was around four years old, and JJ, who was around five. Morgan had already kicked off his pants but was messing around in his bullet proof vest.

"I feel like a robot in this thing," Morgan mumbled to himself, walking around and playing with the vest. Hotch chuckled at the younger man's positivity in this situation.

"The house is clear," Rossi said as we entered the room. "Aaron, we should take them to your house. You can take care of them there. I'll go to the store and pick up the supplies you'll need. We'll talk about work and what we are going to tell Strauss, later."

Hotch nodded and started walking with his mini team towards his SUV. Reid was still tripping over his sleeves so Hotch just picked him up and carried him to the car. He sat Reid and Emily in the middle and had them share a seatbelt, and Morgan and JJ sat at the two window seats. Then Hotch pulled away from the house and headed home.

* * *

Hotch and Rossi had just finished putting together the mini profilers' rooms. Morgan and Reid got their own bedrooms and Emily and JJ had to share a room. They went downstairs and saw the kids, in their new clothes, playing with the toys Rossi bought.

Reid saw Morgan building a tower of blocks. The kid part of him wanted to knock it down, but the adult part of him knew that his friend would get mad at him. He had an inner battle but soon the kid side of him won out and he ran over to the tower, knocking it over.

"Reid!" Morgan cried, then he saw Hotch approaching. "Hotch, Reid knocked down my tower!"

"I'm sure it was an accident," Hotch replied. "Reid, did you apologize?"

Reid shook his head before turning to Morgan. "Sorry Morgan for knocking over your tower."

Morgan cracked a smile. "It's okay Pretty Boy. I can just make another one." He started stacking up the blocks again.

Hotch smiled and sat on the couch. It had taken a while for them to loosen up but after a couple of hours they started to act like kids.

Rossi sat down next to him and said, "I told Strauss the truth. She is going to make sure that we don't get any cases and is putting you guys on paid leave. So you guys get to relax and kick back while another team catches Dr. Brian. Then we can get you guys back to your normal selves in no time. In the meantime, I suggest you take advantage of your situation and enjoy being a kid again."

"That's what I planed on doing," Morgan replied, looking up from his blocks briefly. The rest of them nodded in agreement. Hotch smiled again at how easygoing his team was.

Hotch looked at his watch. "You guys want to go and get something to eat?"

"Yeah!" They cried.

Hotch lead them to the van that Rossi was letting him barrow. He put Reid in his car seat, Emily and JJ in their booster seats and let Morgan climb into a regular seat. Hotch was thankful that Rossi had bought the kids seats because he had completely forgotten about that.

* * *

At the restaurant Reid was in a high chair at the end of the table, Emily was in a booster seat next to Rossi in the booth, and JJ, Morgan, and Hotch were sitting across from them.

"Hotch, can I get a stake?" Morgan asked.

"No," Hotch answered. "Look at the kid's menu. Reid, what do you want to eat?"

"Spaghetti," Reid replied.

Hotch nodded, deciding he would get a burger and fries.

A little while later everyone was enjoying their food when Reid decided his bowl of spaghetti would make a good hat and put it on top of his head. Morgan busted out laughing and Hotch took the bowl off Reid's head. Hotch tried to get most of the noodles out of his hair before picking him up and walking towards the bathroom to clean up.

"Oh he is so cute!" A waitres gushed as they walked by. "Here, let me get a washcloth. It will work better than the paper towels."

"Thank you," Hotch said as he took the offered washcloth. He cleaned Reid up and handed the towel back to the waitress on his way back to the booth. He thanked her again for the washcloth.

"Oh it was no problem," she replied. Then said to Reid, "Now you be good for your daddy and no more putting food on your head." Hotch smiled and walked away.

He could help but replay what the waitress said to them. She thought he was Reid's dad. His smile grew. He liked the sound of that.

* * *

**Author's note: So how are you liking the story so far? Please review and tell me what you think.**


	2. Chapter 2

Hotch looked in the rearview mirror, on the way home from the restaurant, and smiled. All of the kids were asleep in the back of the van.

At Hotch's house he said good bye to Rossi and picked up Reid and Emily, carrying them into the house. He smiled again as Emily's arms wrapped around his neck. He gently laid them them in their beds before walking back outside and picked up Morgan and JJ. Morgan wrapped his arms around Hotch's neck too and rested his head on Hotch's shoulder. Hotch put them to bed too before walking into his own bedroom and collapsing onto his bed and falling asleep.

* * *

The next day Garcia stopped by and was chasing Morgan around the house, trying to cuddle him to death. Morgan dove behind Hotch's legs and Hotch stopped Garcia before she could get to the boy.

"But Hotch!" She whined. "He is fun sized now! The perfect size for cuddling!"

"Don't you have to get back to work?" Hotch asked.

"Oh yeah!" Garcia cried. "I had better get going! Bye!" Then she hurried out the door.

Hotch patted Morgan's back, as the young boy still clung to his legs. "She left Morgan. She's not going to smother you to death."

Morgan peeked his head out and looked up at Hotch. "What about the next time she comes over?"

Hotch laughed. "I will make sure she acts civil."

"Good," Morgan stated. "She scared me when she started chasing me. I don't know why but I kept picturing a monster chasing me."

Hotch smiled. Morgan had ran to him knowing that Hotch would protect him. "Well, you're okay now Derek." Morgan nodded and released his grip on Hotch's pants.

"Hey Hotch!" Morgan cried. "Did you know that I still have my six-pack?! Look!" Morgan pulled up his shirt and flexed, his abs popping out.

"What?!" Emily said in disbelief. "You had six-pack abs when you were this young?!"

Morgan nodded. Hotch was impressed.

"Good for you Morgan," Hotch said and Morgan beamed.

* * *

A few days later Hotch was in the living room cleaning and the kids were in the basement playing. Suddenly Emily ran up to him, close to crying.

"Emily, what's wrong?" Hotch asked, crouching down so he was eye level with her.

"Hotch, Morgan broke my doll!" Emily wimpered, holding up a Barbie doll with no head. Hotch took the doll and popped the it's head back on before handing it back to Emily.

Emily squealed, throwing her arms around Hotch's neck. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

Morgan ran up from the basement and walked over to Emily. "Hey Em, I'm sorry for breaking your doll. I just wanted to see if you could take the head off, like the Lego people. Apparently dolls' heads aren't supposed to come off. Sorry Em."

Morgan hugged Emily and then Emily grabbed his hand. "It's okay Derek. I know you didn't mean to. Come on! Let's play!" Morgan smiled and let her drag him back downstairs.

Just then Rossi knocked on the door. Hotch let him in and he went down into the basement. A few seconds later Emily came barreling up the stairs crying . She ran right to Hotch and wrapped her arms around his legs, burying her face in his jeans. Hotch instinctively picked up the sobbing girl and started rubbing her back, trying to calm her. Rossi walked up the stairs and Hotch snapped, "Dave, what did you do?!"

"I scared her," Rossi confessed. "I wasn't trying to make her cry Aaron. Morgan laughed."

"She is _four _Dave," Hotch pointed out. "You do not scare four year old girls. Reid is even younger so I'm surprised he isn't crying right now."

Rossi shrugged. "I made sure he was out of the room. He was in the bathroom when I scared the rest of the team."

Hotch glared at him. "Don't you ever scare them again."

Rossi nodded. "Emily, I'm sorry I scared you. I didn't mean to make you cry."

Emily didn't lift her face from where it was buried in Hotch's neck. Hotch signaled for Rossi to go downstairs as he kept trying to calm the girl in his arms. When Rossi was gone, he sat down in a rocking chair with Emily in his lap and began to rock as he rubbed his hand soothingly up and down Emily's back. Slowly the sobs died down and soon the tears stopped flowing.

Hotch looked down and asked, "Are you okay now?" Emily nodded. She had her head resting on Hotch's chest.

"Do you want to go back and play with the others?" Hotch asked. "I promise I'll make sure Rossi doesn't scare you again, but if he does, come tell me and I'll handle it." Emily gave a watery chuckle, knowing how Hotch 'handles' things. She smiled up at him before sliding off his lap to go join the others.

* * *

That night they were all sitting on the couch in the living room watching a movie. When it was over Hotch asked, "Do you want to watch another one?" When no one answered he looked down and saw them all asleep. Morgan was leaning against Hotch's right side and JJ was on his left. Emily had her head in his lap and Reid was snuggled up against Morgan.

Hotch adjusted them so he could stand, then picked up Morgan and Reid before putting them in their beds. He went back and lifted JJ and Emily. He set JJ down in her bed then moved across the room to Emily's bed. When he tried to lay Emily down, she groaned and tightened her grip on Hotch's neck.

After a few failed attempts to get her arms to release their grip, Hotch finally gave up and walked back into the living room. He laid down on the couch with Emily. Hotch closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of having his little girl asleep on his chest. Soon he fell asleep with his arms wrapped protectively around Emily.


	3. Chapter 3

It had been a week and a half since Hotch's team were turned into kids and there was still no sign of Dr. Brian. Hotch was just focusing on his team and was letting the other team worry about finding Dr. Brian. Hotch and the kids were playing out in the backyard.

"Alright! Time to go in and eat!" Hotch called. Morgan and Emily headed towards the house but JJ and Reid wanted to play outside more. Hotch went over and scooped them up, throwing them over his shoulders like bags of potatoes. They squealed and pounded on Hotch's back, laughing. Hotch walked into the house and sat the too kid's in their seats at the table. He then started serving the Mac and Cheese onto each of their plates. They dug into the food, in a hurry to go outside and play some more.

When they finished they washed their hands and helped Hotch clean up before heading back outside.

"Hotch, can we make a mud puddle?" Morgan asked, giving Hotch his best puppy dog eyes.

"I have a better idea." Hotch said, walking towards the shed. "Go get your bathing suits on and come back out."

They did as they were told and when they came back out they saw a very large tarp stretched out across the lawn. Hotch had a hose in his and and was spraying down the tarp. He sat the hose down on the corner of the tarp so it would still keep the whole tarp wet. "Alright, this is our home made slip-n-slide. All you do is run and slide on the tarp. It's fun. Give it a try."

Morgan backed up a couple of feet before running and jumping onto the tarp. He shot down the tarp and stopped about halfway. "That was awesome!" He cried as he climbed off the tarp and ran back to the top. "Can I go again?!"

"You gotta wait for your turn Derek," Hotch said. "Who wants to go next?"

They took turns flying down the tarp. They were having a blast.

Morgan started flexing his muscles and yelled, "Hey Prentiss! Check out the gun show over here! Oh yeah. Have you seen a six year old have guns this big?" He flexed his biceps. Emily rolled her eyes and Hotch smiled. Morgan just proved that he can still use his adult mind.

Then Hotch got an idea. He ran into the house and got some dish washing soap. He rubbed it all over their bodies then said, "There! Now you will be able to go faster. Just don't touch your eyes, or the soap will burn your eyes."

Morgan ran and jumped on the tarp. He shot all the way down to the edge of the tarp before stopping. "Sweet!" They played in the water for a couple of hours before heading inside and washing their bodies clean of soap and dirt. Then they went out to the restaurant for supper.

At the restaurant Morgan and Emily went over to where some games were. They were messing around with the machines when a waiter walked over and knelt down in front of them. "Where is your daddy at?"

They pointed to Hotch.

"Well let's go back to your daddy." The waiter said taking both of their hands. They walked up to Hotch.

"Daddy! Daddy! You missed it! I almost won at the claw game!" Morgan cried, so the waiter wouldn't think he was weird by calling him Hotch instead of Daddy.

"That's great Derek," Hotch said. A warm feeling exploded in his chest at being called Daddy. Hotch knew that it was only because the waiter was there but it didn't matter. Just hearing Morgan say it was enough. Then the feeling grew even more as Emily said, "Yeah Daddy! Derek was really close! Come with us next time! Please Daddy!"

"After dinner sweetheart," Hotch chuckled, picking her up and setting her next to JJ in the booth. Then he sat Morgan next to him, before looking up at the waiter. "Thank you for bringing my kids back. I was beginning to wonder where they wandered off to. They didn't cause any trouble did they?"

The waiter shook his head. "No sir. I just saw them by themselves and didn't want them to wander off and get lost."

"Thank you," Hotch said. The waiter nodded and walked away.

"Did you mean it when you said you would come to the claw game after dinner?" Emily asked hopefully.

Hotch smiled and nodded. Emily's face broke into a huge grin. When they finished eating Hotch saw Reid was almost asleep so he picked up the toddler and followed Morgan and Emily over to the claw game. JJ ran up and stood next to the machine with interest.

"Hotch, can I have fifty cents please?" Emily asked, pinning him with her puppy dog eyes. Hotch dug into his pocket and gave them each fifty cents. The all came close but didn't get a prize. Reid had his head on Hotch's shoulder and was fast asleep. Hotch pulled the kids into the van and headed home.

* * *

Hotch walked back downstairs from putting Reid to bed and saw Morgan, Emily, and JJ had built a fort out of blankets, sheets, and pillows. He went over to where he assumed was the front and said, "Permission to enter the fort?"

"What's the password?" Morgan asked from inside.

Hotch thought for a second. "Unsub?"

Morgan's head popped out of the door and he held back the sheet. "Good guess. You may enter."

"Thank you kind sir," Hotch said as he crawled into the fort on his hands and knees.

"This is a really cool fort you guys made," Hotch admired, as he sat down.

"Thanks!" JJ said. "Its top secret though. You can't tell nobody!"

"Petty officer Jareau! Any sign of the enemy on starboard side?" Morgan asked.

JJ ran over to the right side of the fort and peeked under a sheet. "No skipper! All clear on starboard side!"

Morgan turned to Hotch. "Petty officer Hotchner! Man the port side!"

"Aye aye skipper!" Hotch said and moved to the left side of the fort and peeked under the sheet. "Port side clear!"

"Keep an eye out for the spy named Agent Prentiss." Morgan ordered as he curled his fingers and brought them up to his eyes as pretend binoculars.

Suddenly Emily jumped through a sheet and tackled Hotch.

"Ahhh!" Hotch fake screamed. "I found her! Help!"

Morgan said, "I'll help!" And jumped on Hotch too.

"Yeah!" JJ agreed, joining the pile. Then they separated. Morgan went and put Hotch in a headlock, JJ grabbed his legs, and Emily grabbed his arms.

Hotch quickly got his legs free and wrapped one around JJ's stomach and the other behind her back then locked his ankles together so she was trapped between his legs. Then in one quick move, Hotch had freed his arms wrapped them around Emily and Morgan so they couldn't escape either.

"Hotch, come on!" JJ giggled as she struggled to get free.

Hotch released them and they collapsed against him. Morgan and Emily had their heads on either side of his chest, and JJ had her head on his leg. Hotch saw Morgan yawn and Emily was fisting her eyes.

"Come on," Hotch said, sitting up and crawling towards the exit of the fort. "Its time for bed." The kids whined, their comfy pillow now gone, but followed him out of the fort and up to bed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's note: I am so sorry for the long update. I am out of town and don't have any Wi-Fi. I had to go to a Starbucks. I will try to update as soon as I can. Please review!**

* * *

Hotch went into JJ's and Emily's room the next morning to wake them up like he does every morning.

"JJ," Hotch called softly, shaking he shoulder gently. "JJ, it's time to get up."

"Daddy, go 'way," JJ mumbled, pushing his hand away. " 'M sleepin'."

Hotch grinned widly. There was his favorite word again. Daddy. "JJ, sweetheart, you have to get up now. Breakfast is ready."

"_Daddy,_" JJ whined, still half asleep. Hotch didn't think it was possible but his smile grew even wider. He just leaned down and scooped her into his arms. JJ automatically wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head on his shoulder as he carried her downstairs. She mumbled unhappily as he sat her down in her chair at the table and went back upstairs to wake the others.

* * *

"Hotch! Hotch! Hotch!" Reid cried, running up to the man. "Look at what I made!"

Hotch looked down at the energetic boy and saw a ship made out of legos in the boy's hands. He crouched down saw he was at the toddler's level and examined the ship. "Wow Spencer! This is really good!"

"You really think so?" Reid asked hopefully.

Hotch nodded and leaned closer to the toddler, then whispered loudly so Morgan, who was sitting near by, could hear. "Yeah. I doubt Morgan can make something that good."

"Hey!" Morgan cried. "I heard that!"

Hotch chuckled. Reid giggled and walked away to go build a building out of legos now.

Hotch looked over and saw Morgan pouting. "Derek."

Morgan didn't look up from the puzzle he was doing.

"_Derek."_ Hotch called in a sing-song voice as he sat next to the young boy.

Morgan just shot him a glance out of the corner of his eye and shoved a puzzle price down with extra force.

"Morgan, you know I was kidding, right?" Hotch asked.

Morgan shrugged.

Hotch cocked an eyebrow but knew exactly what would make Morgan happy again. He leaned down and whispered in Morgan's ear, "Hey Derek, don't tell the others but I just bought some cookies at the store. Do you want one?"

Morgan snapped his head up and nodded eagerly.

"Well come on then!" Hotch said rushing to the kitchen, with Morgan right behind him. Morgan stood on his tippy-toes but wasn't able to reach the packet on the counter. Hotch lifted the boy up and Morgan grabbed his cookie, eating it quickly. When Morgan finished he ran off to go play with Emily.

* * *

A few hours later Hotch went into his room and saw Emily sitting on the floor with one of his pistols in her hands.

"Prentiss!" Hotch screamed, snatching the gun away. "What the hell do you think you were doing?!"

"Hotch, it's not loaded. And plus, the safety was on," Emily reasoned.

"So what?!" Hotch yelled, checking to make sure there were no bullets in the clip. "Emily Prentiss, you do not play with guns! You may be an adult mentally but physically you are a child. If this gun was loaded you could have shot your foot off!"

The fact that Hotch was yelling at her and how graphic he was with what could have happened was too much for Emily. She started to cry and ran out of the room.

Hotch wanted to kick himself for being stupid enough to leave a gun out in the open and for making Emily cry. He ran a hand down his face before locking the gun away and rushing after Emily.

Hotch opened the door to Emily and JJ's room and saw Emily crying on her bed. Hotch walked over and sat down next to her on the bed. He started running a hand up and down her back as he whispered, "Emily, I'm sorry I yelled at you."

Emily just looked up at him with tears streaming down her cheeks.

Hotch's heart broke and he pulled the little girl into his lap, holding her close. He felt a warmth in his chest as she snuggled closer into his body. "Emily, I am sorry for yelling at you. But you really scared me kiddo. God only knows what could have happened if that gun was loaded. That doesn't matter though. I am just glad your safe. Just don't scare me like that again, okay?"

Emily nodded. "I'm sorry Hotch for scaring you. I won't play with your guns again."

"Thank you," Hotch said, then changed the subject. "Do you want to have a tea party with you , me, and JJ?" He knew that Emily and JJ loved to play tea party.

"Yeah! I'll go get JJ!" Emily squealed, jumping off his lap and heading to the basement.

* * *

A few minutes later Hotch was sitting down at a small table, in a tiny chair that he barely fit into, with Emily and JJ. Emily was just pouring Hotch some imagery tea when Rossi walked in.

Rossi smiled at his tough as nails friend having a tea party with two little girls. He snapped a few pictures on his phone before speaking. "Sorry girls but I have to steal Aaron for a couple of minutes."

Hotch nodded and stood up but his butt was wedged in the chair so the chair rose with him. Emily and JJ laughed as Rossi chuckled and took a few more pictures. Hotch finally dislodged the chair and followed Rossi out of the room.

* * *

Rossi sat down next to Hotch on the couch and smiled. "You are really enjoying this, aren't you?"

Hotch nodded. "Yeah Dave, I am. "

"I am happy for you Aaron," Rossi said, clapping Hotch on the back.

"Hotch! Morgan took my car!" Reid cried from the basement.

Hotch chuckled to himself. "Sorry Dave, but duty calls. Thanks for stopping by though."

"Any time," Rossi replied and headed out the door.


	5. Chapter 5

Hotch was walking past the hallway bathroom a few days later, when he heard a voice say, "I am so ripped!" The door was partially open so Hotch peeked into the bathroom and saw Morgan standing on the counter in front of the mirror without a shirt on and flexing his muscles.

"Oh yeah! Look at these guns!" Morgan said, looking at his biceps. "Gun show over here ladies! Pow pow!"

Hotch was struggling not to laugh.

"I'm sexy and I know it!" Morgan sang, showing off all his muscles to the mirror.

"What are you doing?" Hotch asked him.

Morgan jumped and almost fell off the counter. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough to know that you still have your adult mind," Hotch replied.

Morgan's face was bright red. He got down from the counter and hurried out of the room.

* * *

"Everyone come up here! I have a surprise for you!" Hotch called down to the basement.

"A surprise!" JJ cried.

"I want to see!" Emily squealed.

All four kids basically trampled each other on the stairs, just to see what the surprise was. They all gathered at the top of the stairs in front of Hotch.

"Split up into two teams," Hotch ordered.

"I call Reid!" Morgan yelled.

"Okay, I'll take Emily." JJ stated.

"Alright, I have set up a scavenger hunt. Go around the house and in the backyard to find these objects. Whoever's team finds everything first will win a prize." Hotch explained.

"What's the prize?" Reid asked.

"You will find out at the end," Hotch answered. He handed Morgan and JJ each a list of the objects they needed to find. "Here are your lists. Now go find everything before the other team does!"

Emily and JJ headed to the livingroom and Morgan and Reid went out to the backyard. JJ was smart enough to rip the list in half and hand one side to Emily to find while she worked on the other, that way they would get it done twice as fast. Morgan was also clever by using Reid's photographic memory to know exactly where everything was. He would go get the object and then Reid would tell him where the next one was. Hotch was proud of his team for their smart strategies.

About ten minutes later JJ and Emily rushed up to him with arms full of the objects on the list, with Morgan and Reid right on their heels.

"Hotch, we found everything!" Emily cried.

"We did too!" Reid said.

"JJ and Emily were here first so I will go through there stuff first," Hotch stated. He looked through at everything the girls gave him. "Yup, they found everything. They win."

The girls squealed and hopped up and down.

"Oh well Pretty Boy. We did our best." Morgan said to Reid. Reid nodded and smiled up at him.

"Here you go JJ and Emily," Hotch said, giving them each a cookie for winning. Then he turned and gave Morgan and Reid each a small piece of candy. "This is for getting second place."

Morgan and Reid smiled and ate their pieces candy, as JJ and Emily ate their cookies.

"Thank you Hotch!" they all said before going back down stairs to play. Hotch started putting everything away.

* * *

Hotch sat down in the booth at the restaurant next to Morgan, after setting Reid in a highchair and Emily in a booster seat. Morgan, JJ, and Emily started playing hangman on a napkin as they waited for their food. Morgan had the girls stumped and they just couldn't figure out the word.

Finally Reid said, "The word is fantasy."

"Reid!" Morgan cried.

Reid just giggled.

"Hotch, Reid just ruined the game!" Morgan complained.

"Spencer, that wasn't very nice," Hotch told Reid. "That's their game. Let them figure it out." Then Hotch whispered, "You aren't even supposed to know that word or how to play the game."

"How come Emily gets to play then?" Reid whined.

"Because she is older," Hotch explained.

Reid pouted. Hotch gave in, picking up the toddler and settled him in his lap, before grabbing another napkin and pen and setting up a hangman game for Reid and him to play.

When their food arived Hotch put Reid back into the highchair and dug into his steak. The kids each got a small bowl of ice cream for dessert. Hotch looked up in time to see Reid smile before shoving his face into his bowl. A waitress who saw that happen rushed over with a wet wash cloth.

"Thank you," Hotch said, taking it from her. He stood in front of Reid and started washing off the ice cream from the toddler's face and hair.

"Daddy," Reid whined, trying to push away Hotch's hand.

"Almost done buddy," Hotch replied.

When Reid was clean the waitress sugested, "You might want to use that on your daughter too."

Hotch looked and saw Emily's face was also covered in ice cream. He went and started running the cloth along her face as well.

"Daddy stop!" Emily complained as she swatted at his hand.

"I know you hate this sweetheart, but if you acctually got some ice cream in your mouth insted of all over your face then I wouldn't need to do this," Hotch stated.

Finally Emily was clean too and Hotch handed the wash cloth back to the waitress after thanking her again. Then Hotch picked up a sleepy Reid and hurded everyone to the car.


	6. Chapter 6

Hotch got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. On his way back to his room he heard a voice in Morgan's room. Hotch instantly grabbed his gun and rushed into the room. He saw that the room was empty and Morgan was asleep on his bed. It looked like Morgan was having a nightmare.

"No!" Morgan cried. "Get away! Daddy! Daddy, help me!"

Hotch shoved his gun back into the waistband of his jeans and ran over to the frightened boy. He started shaking Morgan's shoulder. "Derek. Derek, wake up!"

Morgan sat into a sitting position on the bed and searched the room frantically. When he saw Hotch he dove at the man, wrapping his arms tightly around his neck and started sobbing into his shoulder.

"It's okay Derek. I'm here. I've got you. You're safe now. It was just a dream. " Hotch soothed.

"It was him, Daddy. It was Carl Buford. He wanted to... I tried to make him stop but he wouldn't!" Morgan sobbed.

"I won't let him hurt you anymore, buddy. I promise. He will never touch you again." Hotch told him. He rocked the boy until the tears finally stopped flowing.

"I'm sorry Hotch," Morgan apologised. "I was around this age when Carl started... so I guess I'm afraid it's going to happen again. The adult part of my brain knows it's dumb and that Carl is in jail, but the kid part of me is still scared that he might show up here and take me to the cabin." Morgan shuttered at the thought.

"There is nothing for you to be sorry about," Hotch said. "It's okay to be scared. Carl was a terrible man and I'm sorry that happened to you. But, do you know what is different now from when you were a kid and now?"

"Carl is in jail," Morgan said.

Hotch nodded. "Yes, but do you know what else? You have got me here to protect you now. I won't let anything happen to you, Derek. I will always keep you safe."

Morgan looked up at him, giving him a small smile.

"Why don't you try to get some sleep?" Hotch suggested.

Morgan nodded and laid back down on the bed. "Good night Daddy."

"Good night Derek," Hotch whispered back.

He made sure Morgan was sleeping before leaving to check on the rest of the kids. Finally he crawled back into bed but didn't get much sleep the rest of the night.

* * *

Hotch woke up to all of the kids jumping on him.

"Get him!" JJ cried.

Hotch was able to sit up and swing his legs over the side of the bed. Reid and JJ jumped off the bed and wrapped their arms and legs around his legs. Morgan climbed onto his back as Emily wrapped her arms around Hotch's neck and hung against his chest. Hotch stood and walked downstairs, with all the children clinging to him.

"You know I'm not a jungle gym, right?" Hotch asked, as he reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Yeah, you're more fun than a jungle gym!" Emily replied.

Hotch laughed, and peeled the kids off of him.

* * *

An hour later Hotch walked into the kitchen and saw Morgan had dragged a chair to the counter then climbed up the chair and onto the counter. He was now standing on his tippy-toes, trying to reach the cookie jar that was on top of the fridge. Emily was keeping a look out at the doorway from the kitchen to the hallway.

Hotch walked over and grabbed Morgan before putting him on the ground and putting the chair away. Then he turned to Morgan and Emily. "Time out. Both of you to separate corners in the living room. Now."

"Way to go Prentiss! You got us in trouble!" Morgan yelled.

"_Me_?! How is this my fault?!" Emily asked.

"'Cause you weren't watching the living room door!"

"You told me to watch the hallway door, Morgan! You didn't say anything about the living room door!"

"You should have been watching both doors!"

"Enough! Both of you march to two different corners, right now. And I don't want to hear any talking from either of you." Hotch ordered.

Morgan grumbled as he walked to a corner in the living room. Emily silently moved to the opposite corner.

Ten minutes later Hotch went over and crouched down next to Emily. "Emily, do you know why I put you on time out?"

Emily nodded. "Because I helped Morgan try to steal cookies out of the cookie jar."

"Are you going to do it again?" Hotch asked. Emily shook her head. "Can I have an apology?"

"Sorry Hotch," Emily apologized.

Hotch nodded. "Alright, now can I have a hug?"

Emily wrapped her arms around him.

Hotch smiled. "Thank you Emily. You can go play now."

Emily squealed and ran towards the basement to play with JJ.

Hotch did the same thing with Morgan and after Morgan apologized, he was also allowed to go play with the others.

* * *

Hotch was playing with cars with Morgan and Reid, when he noticed Reid fisting his eyes.

"Spencer, are you getting sleepy?" Hotch asked.

Reid shook his head but couldn't help the yawn that escaped.

Hotch got an idea. "Why don't we go and sit on the porch swing?"

Reid nodded and Hotch carried him upstairs. Hotch sat down on the swing and settled Reid in his lap. Then he began to slowly rock the swing back and forth.

"Hey Spencer, let's count how many cars drive by," Hotch whispered to the toddler.

"One," Reid counted, as a black truck drove by. "Two... Three... Four... Five..."

Hotch felt Reid's head rest against his chest as the boy fell asleep. Hotch continued to rock the swing for a few more minutes before picking up the sleeping toddler and walking back into the house. He laid Reid down in his bed and gazed fondly at him before finally backing out of the bedroom.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's note: People asked for more Reid, so this whole chapter is about him and Hotch. Enjoy and please review!**

* * *

Hotch was sound asleep when he felt a small body jump onto his bed, crawl over to him, and felt a finger poke his cheek. Hotch groaned and opened his eyes. He saw Reid sitting on the bed next to him.

"Daddy wake up!" Reid cried.

"What? What is it?" Hotch asked.

"There is a monster!" Reid told him. "Under - under my bed..." He blushed, realising it sounded stupid, and he wouldn't be surprised if Hotch laughed at him. The kid in him was _sure_ that he heard breathing under the bed, and he was also sure that when he looked under he had seen the flash of red eyes. The adult in him scoffed, but he couldn't be calmed.

Hotch sighed and scrubbed at his face. "Okay, Spencer - come with me," he held his hand out to Reid as he climbed out of bed and Reid latched onto it, slowly following Hotch back to his room. He stayed at the door and wouldn't budge, no matter how many times Hotch pulled.

Hotch walked over to the bed, pushing the covers out of the way. He got on his knees and looked under the bed. He even waved his arm under there. "See?" He said, getting back up. "Nothing there."

"But I saw it's eyes, Hotch!" Reid insisted.

"Come here," Hotch said softly, motioning over. Reluctantly, Reid went over, standing behind Hotch and clutching his leg. Hotch pulled Reid down so he could look under the bed. A flash of red greeted them and Reid squeaked, pulling away. Hotch held him tightly and shushed him. "Spencer, that's just the socket for my home phone," he explained patiently. "It flashes sometimes - okay?"

Reid nodded, feeling slightly reassured. Hotch stood up. "I swear to you there are no monsters in the house - okay?"

"Uh-huh," Reid nodded.

Hotch picked up Reid and sat him down on the bed. "Try to get some sleep, okay, buddy?"

Reid nodded again and curled up under the blankets. "Night Daddy."

"Night kiddo," Hotch whispered as he walked out of the room.

* * *

A loud crash woke Reid up half an hour later. He leapt forward, giving a small squeak. Completely disoriented, he started to panic, before realising he was in his bedroom at Hotch's house. He blew out a breath, wondering what the crash had been, before a slow, steady rumble followed it, and Reid could hear the loud pattering of rain on the windows.

His adult mind registered 'storm' whilst his toddler mind registered 'loud noises are scary'. He buried his face in his pillow as a flash of lightning appeared through the windows. Trying to steady his nerves, he rationalised it.

"It's just a small thunderstorm," he muttered to himself. "It can't actually hurt me - it's just loud and annoying."

Another flash and suddenly the room - once lit up softly by a glow from the light outside the room - was plunged into darkness. Reid gave another small squeak. Anything could be lurking in the dark corners of the room.

He jumped out of the bed and ran down the hall, screeching to a halt as he found Hotch's door was closed. The rumble of thunder came faster than the previous one, which told him that the storm was getting much closer. It would soon be right over them and he was already breathing quickly and could feel wet patches appearing on his cheeks from tears. A glance outside told him that a power grid must have gone down, as there were many buildings without light. He knew it was late but it was odd to not see even one light on.

As the rain increased in pressure and speed, Reid stood up on his tippy-toes so he could reach the door nob and open the door. It glided open smoothly and he could just make out the shape of Hotch, sleeping peacefully in the bed. He fidgeted awkwardly. This would be just another embarrassing thing to admit to Hotch - not only was he afraid of monsters and the dark, he was suddenly petrified of a thunderstorm.

He used to like them when he was an adult. He had often sat in a window, watching as the lightning struck down with terrifying, powerful force. He loved counting between the flashes and the rumbles of thunder to gauge how far away it was. He like watched the rain bounce onto neighbouring rooftops.

But right now, all he could think was that it was a loud noise that frightened him, and that the flashes of lightning might reach him inside the house.

But not if he was with Hotch.

Just as another flash emerged from the sky, Reid made the executive decision of giving a startled cry and climbing onto the bed, pulling the covers over Hotch slightly as he crawled onto the older man's side of the bed. He practically climbed over Hotch, waking him up as he then made a 180 degree spin on his hands and knees and burrowed under the duvet, planting himself firmly half on Hotch.

"Spencer?" Hotch said blearily, pushing himself up into a sitting position, rubbing at his eyes for a second before realising they were in complete darkness. He moved to flick on his bedside lamp and found that it wouldn't turn on.

"We had a power cut, huh?" Hotch pulled the clingy boy onto his lap, realising he had tear tracks down his face and fresh ones were about to appear. "Hey, calm down kiddo - it's just dark; you should be sleeping anyway."

Reid was about to say something but stopped as another flash illuminated the room for a second. He gave a whimper and buried his face in Hotch's stomach. Hotch suddenly registered the storm and could almost feel the lightbulb above his head come on.

"You never told me you were scared of storms," he said gently.

"I'm _not_," Reid said firmly. "At least, I wasn't... But now I am, and I - did you hear that?" A low rumble of thunder echoed outside.

"I heard it," Hotch answered, finding himself rubbing on Reid's back soothingly as he felt him shaking.

"Can't sleep," Reid told him fearfully, his eyes wide and tearful. "There's too much - " another flash lit up the room and he squeaked and buried his head in Hotch's chest. The sound of thunder followed immediately after. "It's right above us," Reid whispered. Hotch could feel his chest getting damp and realised that the small boy was so scared he was sobbing.

"Hey, it's okay," he said softly. "It's just loud noise. It's fine." Hotch crawled out of bed with Reid still in his arms and headed into the living room. He sat down in the rocking chair and slowly started to rock the chair back and forth.

Another boom of thunder made Reid jump. "Hotch-"

Hotch cut him off. "Don't focus on the storm, buddy. Focus on me. Ignore the sounds outside."

Reid nodded and focused on Hotch's heart beat.

Hotch started to sing a lullaby that always made him feel better when he was a kid.

From the sound of Hotch's voice and the steady beat of his heart, Reid was starting to relax. He fisted his eyes as the tears stopped flowing. Slowly he closed his eyes.

Hotch lifted the toddler into his arms and carred the sleeping boy to his bedroom. He laid Reid down on his bed, then left and headed to his own bedroom, hoping to get more than four hours of sleep tonight.


	8. Chapter 8

Almost four months from when the team were first turned into kids Hotch eased off his jacket and hung it up as he came into the house. It wasn't quite late; a dusky hue was starting to appear in the city and filter through the windows of his balcony but to Hotch's new parent clock; it was quite late. He heard muffled giggles from somewhere and couldn't help but frown and feel slightly wary.

Rossi had been commissioned to babysit while Hotch had an important meeting at the BAU about how the other team was doing on trying to catch Dr. Brian. He didn't want to hire a babysitter because it was last minute and he wouldn't trust someone he'd never met to look after the kids.

So he had called Rossi- who was only too happy to watch the kids when all he had to do was make sure they were fed and occupied.

And apparently he had done this very well.

Hotch walked into the living room and found what was effectively a fort set up. He could just make out the silhouettes of his friend and kids as they giggled about whatever the hell it was they were doing.

Hotch placed his briefcase down on a chair and knelt to open the flaps of the sheets. "Permission to enter the fort?"

He was barrelled over by all the kids as they leapt at him excitedly, happy to have him home. "Hotch! You're back! We missed you! How was the meeting? Have you finished now? Does that mean you can stay here?"

Hotch managed to pull himself back to his feet whilst holding a very cuddly Reid and Emily and glared at Rossi.

"What?" His friend asked.

"How much sugar have you given them?"

"Not that much!" Rossi protested, even as Reid and Emily were practically shaking in Hotch's arms and Morgan and JJ climbed all over Hotch's legs. "Well... not as much as you wouldn't want them to have."

"I wouldn't want them to have any," Hotch reminded him. "You know how hard it'll be to get him to sleep?"

"That's why it's better to be an Uncle," Rossi reminded him with an innocent beam. "You can do whatever and then just give the kids back afterwards. Speaking of, I should really go - "

"Nope," Hotch said, blocking his friend's way as he gave a predatory smile. "You can help me calm them down and get ready for bed."

"No, I should probably leave soon, I have to be - " Rossi's words were cut off as Hotch placed Reid and Emily in his arms.

"I'm going to get changed," he told Rossi sternly. "When I get back, that fort is to be gone and these kids," Reid giggled and chewed on his own fist, "is to be calm. Got it?"

"Aaron, I don't know how to calm kids down!" Rossi said in a panicked voice.

"Well then you'd better learn quickly shouldn't you?" Hotch replied.

"Where are you going?" JJ gave a wail, clinging to his leg.

"I'm just going to get changed out of my suit," he promised her.

Rossi was struggling to keep Reid and Emily in his arms and hold Morgan and JJ back as Hotch got further away from them.

Reid managed to wiggle out of Rossi's arms.

"Hey!" Rossi cried out, going to grab for him but missed. He watched as Reid scampered into Hotch's room, crashing into the now jeans clad legs as Hotch was pulling a black shirt on. Rossi winced, getting ready for the explosion, but all that happened was that Hotch sighed and waited until he had gotten his shirt on before picking Reid up, rubbing at his back as the kid wiggled in his arms. Rossi gave Hotch an innocent grin as he came back out frowning.

"Didn't I say that the tent had to come down?" Hotch asked, raising an eyebrow at Rossi who quickly moved towards the fort. He did not want to mess with Hotch when Hotch was in this kind of mood.

"No!" Reid whined in protest. "Please?"

"Please what?" Hotch asked.

"Please can I keep it up?" He asked, looking up at Hotch with large, dewy eyes. Hotch sighed but nodded at Rossi, ignoring the smug grin on his friend's face.

"C'mon, kids," Hotch muttered. "Let's try and get rid of whatever the hell it was that Uncle Dave fed you. You hungry?" They nodded eagerly. "Good. I'll make pasta - how about you have a drink?"

"Juice?" Reid questioned happily.

"Nope, but I hear that water's nice," Hotch replied, grabbing a plastic cup and pouring some water into it.

"I don't want water," Reid whined, paddling his little hands on Harvey's chest uselessly. Hotch caught them effortlessly and glared more at Rossi.

"Hey, I wasn't the one to teach your kid to hit - that's just bad parenting right there," Rossi smirked at Hotch. "But, uh - " He hastily started clearing away some of the mess from around the fort as Hotch continued to glare, "you need to drink water, Reid - it keeps you hydrated. Although not too much," Rossi said, looking pensive. "Then you might pee the bed."

Reid blushed bright red and turned his head away from Rossi, pushing his face into Hotch's neck. He did not want that to happen.

"Thank you. So much," Hotch deadpanned to his friend. "Now he probably won't drink anything."

"Hey, I'm being helpful," Rossi argued. "Now you won't have to change the sheets if he does!"

"I don't anyway," Reid mumbled, causing Hotch to rub his back soothingly.

"I know... Uncle Dave's just trying and failing to be funny," Hotch reassured him. "He might find himself being in charge of a bath tonight if he doesn't watch out."

"Come on, Aaron - I've been talking to the kid all day like this and he didn't mind!"

"Because he was hopped up on sugar," Hotch reminded him, bringing some pasta to the boil effortlessly as he held Reid on his hip and stirred with one hand. "And now he's slowly coming down."

"Well at least he's coming down," Rossi reminded him, grinning.

Hotch hummed in agreement before he was forced to put Reid down in order to prepare the food. And at that moment in time his cell rang as well. Cursing his bad luck he flipped his middle finger to his friend as he laughed at Hotch trying to answer his phone whilst holding a boiling hot pan and trying to keep Reid away by gently pushing him with his leg.

* * *

Garcia had just ran into Strauss in the hallway and was told to tell Hotch that some meetings with her have been rearanged. She had to call him and tell him about a change to his meeting times. Hoping he wasn't trying to do anything important, she dialled and waited.

_"Hello?"_

Huh. He sounded weird. Sort of out of breath.

"Hotch?" Garcia questioned, because it wasn't like her boss to sound flustered.

_"Garcia... what do you - dammit - what's up?"_

"Are you okay?" She heard a small splash.

_"I'm fine, just trying to - no, Spencer, don't stand in that puddle, it's hot - go over to Uncle Dave, okay? I'm just trying to do three things at once."_

"And you can't do that?" She asked, preening that _she_ could - although she was wondering what was happening down the other end of the phone.

_"Of course I can but when it involves making pasta, trying to calm four hyper children down and answer a phone - it's a little harder than it should - Dave, do _not _wind him up again!"_

She now desperately wished she could be watching the carnage of the scene unfolding at the other end. "I was just calling to tell you - "

_"Yeah, JJ, I can see it from here - yeah, I'll look at it properly in a minute, okay? Sorry, Garcia - what were you saying?"_

"Your meetings tomorrow - "

_"Spencer, wait, okay? I'm trying to - well yeah, you might want to talk to Daddy, but Daddy's trying to talk to Aunt Penelope, okay? I'll be finished in a minute. Sorry, Garcia."_

_"_Strauss had to reschedule with - "

_"Emily, come get your food, sweetheart - what? No, you can't talk to Aunt Penelope... Because I am. No. Now eat. Who did she have to rescedual with?"_

"The Aterny General has to - "

_"No, Derek you just... Dave will you make sure he doesn't spill anything else? Because I said so! Thank you. What's going on with the Aterny General?"_

"He's had to go visit his sister - "

_"Derek if I see any more of that go on the floor purposefully - no, Dave that's not exactly helping. Is his sister alright?"_

"She slipped at home and broke her - "

_"You've finished? All of it? Good job, Emily. No, you still can't talk to her... Go get your pyjamas on. What did she break?"_

"Her leg, so she needs someone to look after her kids - "

A small crash resounded on the other end of the phone. _"It's alright, kiddo - you just tripped. It's okay," _there was a scrabbling at the other end and a bit of wailing. Hotch sighed. _"Garcia, can I call you back?"_

Hotch sounded so frazzled that Garcia almost took pity on him.

But then she remembered how much he interrupted her over the phone.

"I'll come round," she said brightly. "You sound like you need some help."

Hotch groaned and she hung up, quickly packing up her things so she could go over to Hotch's.

He should be thanking her - it sounded as if he had needed back up for a lot of that conversation and Rossi hadn't exactly been the best help. But she knew he would secretly count it as a curse. She didn't know what he was expecting - it wasn't as if she would look down on him as being a bad father. Completely the opposite, she thought he was a wonderful father. But - like in most aspects of his life - he would be well and truly lost without her.


	9. Chapter 9

She simply walked through the door when she got there. She had been expecting to see carnage - fires, blood, Hotch having a mental breakdown - instead it was somewhat calm. Except there was a scuffle ensuing in the living room. She walked in and raised an eyebrow. The kids were cheering as they watched Hotch and Rossi try to pin each other down on the floor. Garcia walked over to the kids sitting on the couch.

"Hey, sweetie," she said in a calm voice, tapping Emily on the shoulder. "What's happening?"

"Uncle Dave called Daddy a naughty word and Daddy tackled him," Emily explained. "Morgan and I are betting two cookies on Daddy and JJ and Reid are putting two cookies on Uncle Dave."

Garcia walked over to the men rolling on the ground.

"Children," she tutted, nudging at a leg with her shoe. The leg instantly froze and both men turned to look at her.

"Hey Garcia!" Rossi leapt up, pushing Hotch aside.

"What are you still doing here?" she asked.

"I put the kids on sugar overload so now Aaron won't let me leave till all the little munchkins are asleep." Rossi explained

Reid gave a whine in response and Hotch quickly took him off the couch and into his arms, shushing him. "Garcia - why did you come round?"

"Well I thought you'd need a hand - and clearly I was right... But then, when aren't I?" She smiled at him and added, "Do I really need to issue time outs for you two because of your fighting?"

Morgan giggled happily. "Yes! Please, _please _give Hotch a time out!"

"Careful, kiddo," Hotch said. "You might find_ yourself_ in a time out. Now - are you ready for bed?" Morgan shook his head. "No?" He asked. "That's strange - because I seem to remember setting _now _as your bedtime."

"I dont recall anything of the sorts," Morgan lied.

"C'mon, superstar," Rossi said to Morgan, pulling Reid from Hotch's arms. "How about all you kids go see what destruction we can bring onto your rooms while Aunt Penelope talks to your dad," he whisked the kids into their rooms before they could protest.

"Wow, super uncle," Garcia smiled.

"Yeah - he has his moments," Hotch agreed gruffly. He started to clear up the living room, moving toys and books into baskets that slotted neatly underneath the coffee table.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Garcia piped up as she was tidying _inside _the fort.

"Whenever I've said 'no', that's never stopped you before," Hotch pointed out, raising an eyebrow at a broken toy and putting it to one side to fix.

Garcia gave a small smile. "Right. How often does they call you 'Hotch'?" She asked.

Hotch turned around, an unreadable expression on his face. "What do you mean?"

"Well, it's just - sometimes I've heard the word 'daddy'. But most of the time it's Hotch. They've been your kids for nearly four months now. Why are they still calling you by your name?"

"Because I've told them to just call me whatever they feel comfortable with," Hotch said in a way that made it sound like it should be obvious. "Sometimes it's 'daddy'... Sometimes it's not."

"Don't you mind?" Garcia prodded. "That they sometimes swaps from being so familiar and close?"

"Garcia, where is this coming from?" Hotch asked, confused, just as a small boy ran back down the stairs.

"Daddy - Uncle Dave's trying to put me to bed!" Reid said in a tattle-tail kind of voice.

Hotch gave a small smile. "Is he? What's wrong with that?"

"Hotch!" Reid whined. He pulled at Hotch's arms impatiently. "_You're _supposed to put me to bed. Not Uncle Dave!"

"Hey!" Rossi huffed, affronted as he ambled back downstairs. "I was trying to do you a favour!"

"I know you were, Dave," Hotch gave him a smile. "But _someone _can be a brat if things aren't done the way he wants." Reid pouted at him. "Come on," Hotch said. "Say good night to Aunt Penelope. It's bedtime."

"I don't want to go to bed," Reid frowned, his lip wobbling.

"Yes you do," Hotch replied. "Garcia?"

"Good night, sweetie," she whispered, kissing Reid on the forehead.

Reid laid his head on Hotch's shoulder tiredly. "Night, Aunt Penelope."

"Now Uncle Dave," Hotch said, turning towards his friend. Reid's eyes were closing but he managed to open them and gave a tired smile and wiggled a few fingers as a goodbye. He closed his eyes again and let his head loll on Hotch's shoulder. "Okay," Hotch said in a hushed voice, rubbing at Reid's back. "Let's get you to bed. I'll be out in a second," he said to the other two, before turning and going up to Reid's room, wondering how one child could get the room so messy.

He placed Reid on the bed and tucked him in, ruffling his hair and kissing his forehead before leaving the room, keeping the door open slightly.

* * *

Hotch got up from where he had been quickly finishing some paperwork at the table. He went to do his usual routine of checking on the kids before going to bed and looked into his son's room.

Reid was curled up, clutching and drooling on his pillow as he slept. Hotch went in just to turn the night light on but accidentally stood on something that was hard and sharp and now probably either broken or permanently embedded in his foot. He bit back a curse but managed to stumble, making a small thump as he held himself up on a chest of drawers.

Hotch bit his lip and glanced over at Reid - who unfortunately got woken up, and looked confused and slightly scared. "Hey, hey," Hotch shushed, quickly going over to him and sitting on the side of the bed, carding his fingers through Reid's hair. "It's okay."

"Go 'way..." Reid whined with a small sob.

"It's just me," Hotch said quickly, hoping to avert a sleepless night. It didn't seem like Reid had been having a bad dream - he was more than likely just confused and scared by the sudden noise. "It's just Daddy - go back to sleep, kiddo." Reid gave a whimper and rubbed at his eyes tiredly. "That's right; sleepy boy, huh?" He said in a hushed, calming voice. "Sleepy boy... Go to sleep," Hotch said softly.

"No," Reid whined, although Hotch had an idea that Reid had no idea what was going on. "Daddy... I want... Daddy?"

"It's alright," Hotch shushed him again, letting him crawl in to his arms and lap. "It's okay - Daddy's right here... Go back to sleep." Reid gave another whimper and clutched onto Hotch, burying his face in Hotch's neck. "Shh, shh," Hotch rubbed Reid's back. "Come on, Spencer," he said, jogging Reid up and down in a slightly desperate manner. "Daddies need sleep too."

Thankfully, Reid started to fall asleep again, and Hotch didn't dare move from his spot for another five minutes until he was sure that Reid was dead to the world. He blew out a breath in relief and very slowly placed Reid back down on his bed. He pulled the covers around him and just sat on the corner of the bed, running his hands softly through Reid's hair. The toddler moved slightly and Hotch froze, hoping he wasn't going to wake up again. However, he just moved his thumb to his mouth and gave a small sigh as he started sucking.

Hotch shook his head but made no attempts to pull the thumb away. It was things like this he secretly loved. He was getting better at the whole being outwardly caring thing. He had once even admitted to Rossi he thought that Reid was somewhat endearing whilst asleep - Aaron Hotchner speak for 'My son is the most adorable thing ever when he's sleeping'.

It was also things like this that reminded Hotch just how young Reid was. When Reid did things like this; like cry if he was woken suddenly or suck his thumb; Hotch secretly enjoyed the knowledge that Reid and the other kids would still look to him for affection until they were changed back.

And he secretly liked being a Daddy too.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's note: Sorry about the last chapter! I typed it on my kindle fire and auto correct screwed it up. I went through and believe that I corrected everything. Sorry about the confusion!**

* * *

Morgan and JJ were sitting on the floor playing Monapoly.

"Whatcha guys playing?" Reid asked, walking over.

"Monopoly," Morgan mumbled, rolling the dice and moving his piece across the board.

Reid sat next to JJ. "Can I play?"

"Sorry Spence but the game is for kids age five and up, see?" JJ apopagized then showed him the box.

"Nobody ever pays attention to that," Reid said.

"Well we do," Morgan pointed out, getting iritated.

"Please?" Reid begged.

"No," Morgan growled. "And besides, we already started the game."

"So?"

"_So _it wouldn't be fair since we already bought over half of the propurties."

"I don't care."

"Well I do!" Morgan yelled, his pacintice running darngerusly thin.

"I wanna play!" Reid wailed.

"Too bad!"

Reid threw the Monapoly board, pieces flying across the room.

"Reid!" Morgan screamed, then chased his younger brother through the house.

"Daddy! Daddy!" Reid cried as he saw the man standing in the kitchen. He dove behind Hotch's legs for protection.

Hotch instanly grabbed Morgan before he could tackle Reid. "Derek, what is going on?"

"JJ and I were playing Monapoly and Reid threw the board and-!"

"Well they wouldn't let me play!" Reid interupted.

"So what?! You don't just go and throw the board!"

"What happened next Derek?" Hotch asked.

"I chased him! That's it!"

"He was gonna hurt me!" Reid wailed.

"Well that's what you get for ruining our game!"

"Derek Morgan! You do not hurt your brother!" Hotch growled.

"But I didn't hurt him!" Morgan cried.

"You were about to," Hotch pointed out.

"But I still technicly didn't hurt him!"

"I don't care. You are on time out. Go stand in a corner."

"You aren't even going to do anything to him?!" Morgan yelled, outraged, pointing to Reid. Reid was still clinging to Hotch's legs.

"What I do or don't do to him is none of your consern. Now, go stand in the corner." Hotch said again.

"This isn't fair! He never gets in trouble! No matter what he does, he never gets in trouble! I chase him, and I get a time out. He flings a board across the room and he gets off scott-free! _This isn't FAIR_!" Morgan stompped his feet with each word of the last part. He was in full tantrum mode now, beyond the point of reason.

"Get up to your room, NOW!" Hotch ordered.

Morgan let out another scream of frustration and stompped up the stairs to his room and slammed the door.

Hotch ran his hands down his face. This was going to be a long day. He sighed and glared down at Reid. "Reid. Your butt. That corner. NOW! And don't move untill I say you can!"

Reid hurried over to the corner Hotch was pointing at and faced the wall. Time outs sucked but he was happy not to be Morgan right now.

"Daddy! JJ stole my doll!" Emily hollered from the basement.

Hotch let out a groan. "Don't move!" Hotch ordered Reid before heading towards the stairs.

* * *

When he got downstairs he saw Emily and JJ playing tug-of-war with a doll.

"It's mine!" JJ yelled.

"Well I had it first!" Emily argued.

"Girls, girls, girls! Calm down." Hotch said, jogging over and crouching next to them. "What happened?"

"I was playing with the doll and JJ went and took it from me!" Emily whined.

"But it's _my _doll!" JJ pointed out.

"So?! I still had it first!" Emily pouted.

"Emily, did you ask JJ if you could use her doll?" Hotch asked.

"No," Emily confessed.

"We ask before taking, right?"

Emily nodded.

"That's right. Now say your sorry." Hotch ordered.

"Sorry JJ for taking the doll without asking," Emily apologized.

"It's okay Em," JJ replied.

"May I please play with it, now?" Emily asked.

JJ nodded and handed her the toy.

"What do you say?" Hotch prompted Emily.

"Thank you," Emily said, and started playing with the doll again.

"Good girl," Hotch praised, patting her back before standing up.

"Daddy, do you wanna play with us?" Emily asked.

"Sorry sweetheart but I gotta go check on your brothers," Hotch apologized.

"Please Daddy?" Emily begged, flashing him her big brown eyes.

Hotch smiled. "Alright. I'll play with you, but first I need to check on your brothers. I'll be right back."

* * *

Hotch walked into the kitchen and saw that Reid had not moved from his spot.

Reid turned at the sound of footsteps. "Daddy, can I get off timeout yet?"

"That depends, are you done throwing game boards?" Hotch asked.

Reid nodded.

Hotch nodded and walked over to the toddler. "Can I have an apology?"

"Sorry Daddy for throwing the board," Reid replied.

Hotch smiled. "Alright buddy, you can get off timeout now."

"Thank you," Reid said, hugging Hotch's legs.

"Come on kiddo. You gotta clean up the mess you made in the living room." Hotch told him.

Reid nodded and scurried off as Hotch headed towards Morgan's bedroom.

"Derek?" Hotch called as he knocked on the boy's bedroom door.

"Go away Hotch," Morgan growled.

Hotch winced. He knew that Morgan was really mad at him when he called him 'Hotch' and not 'Daddy'. "Derek, please may I come in?"

Morgan didn't answer so Hotch just went in anyways. He saw Morgan laying on his stomach on his bed, flipping through a magazine. He didn't even look up when Hotch walked in.

Hotch walked over and knelt down next to Morgan's bed. "I want to apologize. I'm sorry I lost my temper with you for a second. It wasn't right of me. But Spencer did get punished. I try to treat you kids equally. I'm sorry you feel that I favor Spencer but I don't mean to."

Morgan sighed and closed the magazine before looking up at Hotch. "It's fine. I'm sorry for acting like a spoiled little brat. I just got more and more frustrated. I'm sorry."

Hotch smiled. "It's fine Derek. And thank you for accepting my apology. Now, you wanna go downstairs and play dolls with the girls?"

Morgan laughed. "Yeah. I guess you shouldn't have to suffer by yourself. I still can't believe Prentiss would play with dolls. She seems more like a 'toy guns' kind of girl."

"You learn alot about a person's personality by the way the acted when they were little." Hotch stated as they walked down the stairs to the ground floor before heading towards the basement.

In the basement the girls ran up to them and said, "We changed our minds. Now we are playing 'Princesses'!"

Morgan and Hotch just shrugged and put on the tiaras. They would do anything to make their girls smile.


End file.
